Whalum makes case to judge on school board election loss

Rev. Kenneth Whalum was in Chancery Court on Tuesday, asking Judge Kenny Armstrong for a new Shelby County school board election in District 4.

Whalum lost last August by 106 votes to political newcomer Kevin Woods.

More than 800 illegal votes were cast in the election, both by voters who should not have been allowed to vote because they don't live in the district and by those who do live in the district but received the wrong ballot. Almost 13,000 votes were counted in the race.

Whalum's lawyer, Robert Spence, argued that the election should be thrown out because the illegal ballots outnumbered the margin of victory and because "the election is so permeated with illegality, irregularity or fraud that the free will of voters cannot be determined."

John Ryder, representing the Shelby County Election Commission, and defense attorney Jef Feibelman argued that while there were voting irregularities, they were not widespread and did not compromise the voice of the people.

In fact, they claim, Whalum received many more of the illegal votes than did Woods.

"There were 556 out-of-district ballots that were issued to voters who did not live in District 4. We know 370 votes were cast in the election and how they were cast: 277 were for Whalum, and 93 were for Woods," Feibelman said.

The difference is the remaining 186 ballots given to voters outside the district. Because the precinct is split, it is not possible to know for whom the ballots were cast or if they were cast.

"If you are going to consider out-of-district voters, you have to prove they voted," Feibelman said. "It's not a matter of throwing them out. We don't know if they were ever in."

Spence argued the 186 votes, plus the 281 ballots erroneously given in District 4 should be subtracted from Woods' total.

Feibelman says the 281 votes, "wouldn't make any difference," because Woods' new margin would actually be 290 votes.

Woods was sworn in on the board last fall for one of the seven permanent positions that extends past Sept. 1. Whalum is one of 16 Memphis City Schools and Shelby County Schools board members slated to fall off Sept. 1, in accordance with the consent agreement guiding the two-year process of schools merger.

Armstrong, expected to rule in the next few weeks, may order a new election or affirm the existing one.